Small property versus big government : social origins of the property tax revolt / Clarence Y. H. Lo.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lo, Clarence Y. H., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Property tax--California--Public opinion--History.

Property tax.

Public opinion--California--History.

Public opinion.

Tax and expenditure limitations--California--History.

Tax and expenditure limitations.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (289 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, California : University of California Press, [1990]

Summary:

Clarence Lo's investigation of California's Proposition 13 and other tax reduction bills is both a tribute and a warning to people who get "mad as hell" and try to do something about being pushed around by government. Homeowners in California, faced with impossible property tax bills in the 1970s, got mad and pushed back, starting an avalanche that swept tax limitation measures into state after state. What we learn is that, although the property tax was slashed, two-thirds of the benefits went to business owners rather than homeowners. How did a crusade launched by homeowning consumers seeking tax relief end up as a pro-business, supply-side political program? To trace the transformation, Lo uses the firsthand recollections of 120 activists in the movement, going back to the 1950s. He shows how their protests were ignored until a suburban alliance of upper-middle-class property owners and business owners took charge. It was the program of that latter group, not the plight of the moderate-income homeowner, that inspired tax revolts across the nation and shaped the economic policies of the Reagan administration. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1990.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction: From Populists to Limousine Conservatives

1. Whose Interests? Whose Programs? Redistributing the Property Tax Burden

The Plight of High Property Taxes

Tax Relief for Whom?

2. Theories of Inequality and an Interactive Approach to Power

The People's Choice?

Class Politics, Status Politics, and Communities of Consumers

Interaction, Power, and Redistributive Programs

3. Probusiness Leaders and Consumers' Movements in Communities

The Probusiness Creed

Lords of the Mall, Stewards of the Middle Class

The End of (Conservative) Ideology and the Beginning

4. Middle Americans and Generalized Unresponsiveness

Interpretations: Unresponsive Big Government

The Antibusiness Moment

5. Middle-Income Communities in Search of Power

In Search of the Democratic Righ

In Search of the Participatory Left

Half the Way with Jarvis Today

6. Community Business Leaders: Bounded Power and Movement Alliances

Interpretations: Discovering the Bounds of Power

Community Business Leaders as Movement Activists

Call the United Organizations of Taxpayers

7. Frustrated Advantage in Upper-Middle-Class Communities

Interpretations about Unresponsive Government

Advantages for Naught

The Naugahyde Handshake: Upper-Middle-Class Homeowners and Community Business

I Got Mine, You Scat

Action: The People's Campaign

Postmaterialism, Liberalism, and Other Upper-Middle-Class Chimeras

8. The Politics of Probusiness Tax Limitation

The Working-Class Presence

Business-Populism in Suburban Massachusetts

The Rise of the National Taxpayers Union and the National Tax Limitation Committee

Conclusion: Postcorporatist Protests and the Reconstruction of Inequality.

Appendix: Research Methods for Studying Social Movement History

Archival Research

Coding of Events

Extended Interviews

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-520-37850-4

OCLC:

1443081701